Sub Rosa
by Alarice92
Summary: Roses have many symbolic meanings. Love. Beauty. Secrecy. Connection of affection, attractiveness and arcanas in one place can be dangerous. Ladies and gentlemen, let me present story "under the rose"! Rated M for later chapters.
1. Prologue

**A/N:** Welcome to my newest story! Without unnecessarily prolonging, I'd love to thank Kay for her work on beta'ing the prologue. Hope you're gonna like it. Alarice

_xxx_

"Why would I even do that?" She asked, crossing her arms. She was standing near a window in a big room, full of weird objects. Some of them were glistening slightly in the light of the setting sun, others made funny, slightly-pitched sounds.

"Because his soul is still pure and you can save him" The man answered, looking at Victoria carefully.

"And if I fail?" She asked with barely perceptible challenge in her voice.

"It never hurts to try."

She sighed quietly, turning around to face the window.

"Still, I don't see the point. I don't see the use for him in your plan." she mumbled, looking straight ahead with shiny eyes.

"I just wish we could save him. That's all, Victoria."

_xxx_

A petite, dark haired girl was awkwardly stuffing clothes into a large trunk. Tucking an unruly lock of hair behind her ear, Victoria groaned impatiently. Holy Merlin's pants, is it even goddamn possible to fit things in it?

She slammed the lid, abandoning the idea of packing an extra robe.

"Are you ready?" A calm voice came from behind her back. Victoria turned around slowly and nodded. She smiled at the person standing in the doorway.

"Good. I must leave now. Do you remember how to reach the school, Victoria?"

Victoria nodded again, looking at him as he walked out of her room. When the door closed quietly, she took a deep breath, crossed her arms and went to the window, her blue eyes watching the surroundings carefully. No one walked out of the house, she didn't even hear the characteristic 'pop' that accompanies Apparation.

_No wonder, _she thought to herself with a sad smile, _he doesn't want to be seen here_, _he probably Apparated from inside the house_. She shook her head slightly and looked through the window again. The day wasn't really nice, it was raining heavily and it didn't seem like it would stop before it was time to go.

Why did she even agree to this plan in the first place? The idea of starting Hogwarts from _sixth year_ had never seemed more senseless before. Studying at home was way easier, not to mention the fact that her magical skills were already more advanced than that of an average sixth year. When he talked about it, everything was just so clear and meaningful.

_Well, Vic, _she thought,_ you can't change your mind, you already agreed._

She groaned with anger, nervously playing with her dark hair.

"Miss? Breakfast is ready." A squeaky voice reached her ears as if from afar, waking her up from her thoughts.

"Yes, thank you, Spangle." She mumbled, joining the house elf.

Thoughtlessly stirring her porridge, Victoria's eyes were locked ahead. She didn't like the strange feeling in her stomach, even looking at food made her sick. Grimacing to herself, she wondered when was the last time she had been this upset, but she truly couldn't recall that.

"Miss, Sir ordered Spangle to make sure you will eat your breakfast.", Spangle was standing next to Victoria's chair, swaying slightly from side to side, making her quirky necklace rattle. Victoria smiled slightly at the elf, gathering a spoonful of porridge. With an almost heroic effort, she swallowed it and got up from the table.

"There, I ate. Am I dismissed, now?" She blinked at Spangle.

Not waiting for the house elf's response, she grabbed an apple from the bowl sitting on the table and went back to her room. She sighed quietly.

"Now, time to go." She mumbled to herself.

_xxx_

"Dumbledore, this idea is incredibly ludicrous", Snape hissed, looking at the old man sitting behind his desk. "I can take care of it perfectly on my own!"

Dumbledore sighed quietly, looking at the dark-haired man over his half-moon glasses. "I never said you can't, Severus" He smiled gently.

The various tinkling sounds behind Snape's back, today more than ever before, drove him crazy.

"Then what is the point of this? She's just a kid, we can't just let her take control of the situation." Severus answered quietly.

"She will not take control of the situation. Simply, she will simply be able to get closer to him than you could" Dumbledore said, still smiling.

"I am his favorite professor!"

"_Only_ a professor, she can become his friend."

"Still, Dumbledore, it's unreasonable, they are both mere children!" Snape's cold voice shivered slightly, but he regained control of himself almost immediately.

"It is my fault, Severus, but sadly, I think she is more an adult than a child."

_xxx_

"Draco, may I have a word with you?" A motionless figure asked in a cold voice, looking without emotion at his nephew.

The young Malfoy stood up without a word, accompanied by worried gaze of his mother. Once they were alone in the big living room, Bellatrix placed hand on Draco's arm. Not a single muscle moved on the teenager's face.

"Forgive me, I did not want your mother to be present during this conversation. She is too nervous lately." Lestrange said slowly, then added with excitement. "I wanted to let you know that we are very proud that the Dark Lord has chosen you for this task."

"Thank you, Aunt Bella." Draco said, smirking. He tried not to show it, but the vision of glory excited him. Bellatrix nodded with approval to his nephew and left, grinning.

_Draco was left alone with his dreams and unspoken promises._

_xxx_

**Thoughts?**


	2. Chapter 1 - One Of My Lies

Victoria was looking around hesitantly, making people around her mumble in anger as she was standing in the middle of the brightly lit platform. She bit her lower lip slightly.

_It was supposed to be easy._

She was supposed to go through the wall between platform 9 and 10. But from which side? Did it actually matter or not? Then, with her big, light blue eyes, she spotted a girl with a trunk similar to her own. Without thinking, she left her luggage and ran up to the teenager with a storm of brown curls, stepping in front of her. The girl, who was accompanied by several people, reversed back to Victoria.

"Excuse me-" Victoria started slowly, looking apologetically at the girl and the man in front of her, "-I was wondering how to-"

She stopped, tilting her head slightly, not exactly sure how to finish the sentence. Casting a nervous glance at the wall behind all of them, she licked her lips with an abashed smile on them. Finally, Hermione understood the girl's problem and smiled in a friendly manner.

"You are a new student?" she asked, trying to keep a squirming cat in her arms.

"Yes," Victoria nodded with relief.

Hermione looked at the girl sharply. She looked as if she was around her age, maybe a year younger. Long, raven-black hair fell gently on girl's back, her rather pale skin made her lips look like raspberries – though, as Hermione thought, it might have also been the effect of some spell. But actually it was nothing in comparison to her eyes. They were big, in the colour of clear sky, fringed with lashes matching the girl's hair. She had a mild, bright gaze that was also staring at Hermione curiously. Granger couldn't help but notice the mischievous twinkle, which reminded her of the one in Harry's green eyes.

Just then, a boy with a sombre looking man passed through the barrier.

With her eyes wide open, Victoria watched as they disappeared. And no one even noticed. Funny, huh?

"Oh, and by the way, I'm Victoria Fynn," she reached out to shake hands with Hermione.

"Hermione Granger," the girl responded with a wide smile. A red headed teenager joined them, looking at Fynn curiously.

"This is my friend, Ron Weasley," presented Granger. Victoria reached out and shook his hand slightly.

"Victoria," she said quietly, smiling. He smiled back, moving his hand through his fiery hair.

"I was about to show Victoria how to go to the platform. Shall we?" Hermione looked at her new classmate.

Victoria swallowed and nodded slightly. She had a feeling they will crash with the wall. Together, she and Hermione grabbed the handle of the trolley. They pushed it toward the wall, Vic gritting her eyelids. To her huge surprise, instead of sound of metal grating on concrete, she heard the tumult of many witches and wizards. She opened her eyes slowly, looking straight ahead in disbelief. Hermione smirked slightly and patted the girl on the back.

"Sorry, it's just…" the dark-haired girl started, biting her lower lip in embarrassment.

"It's fine, I get it," Granger grinned. "By the way, you moved here?"

"Yes, well, I was used to studying in a rather small school in Faro." Victoria answered, looking around intently. "Is it always so crowded here?"

"Yes, when the school year starts, these are all the students from all years and all four houses," Hermione answered, waving to someone. A boy of average height joined them, looking at Victoria somewhat… suspiciously?

"Hi," she mumbled, trying not to look at him. Something told her that Potter doesn't really like too much attention.

"Harry, this is Victoria, new student." Hermione presented her, grinning. Vic stifled the urge to bow and smiled shyly.

"Harry," he answered shortly, looking shortly at Ron, who joined them. "So what, are we going to look for a compartment?"

"Actually, Harry, we… I mean me and Ron, we have to go to prefects compartment and then patrol the train…" she said hesitantly, but then added quickly, "But I am sure Victoria will be happy to keep you company, she doesn't know anyone in here yet, so…" she was saying quickly, but Harry interrupted her with an impatient wave of the hand.

"Want to go and find a place to sit?" he asked, looking at Victoria. She nodded willingly, grinning. It came to Harry's mind that those blue eyes were freaking him out, reminding him of Dumbledore's piercing gaze.

Victoria, not waiting for his reaction, grabbed him by the arm. Ignoring Hermione's wide smile, he guided dark haired teenager to the train.

"So…" he started, not exactly sure how to start. Damn, he wasn't good at talking to the girls at all!

"Yes, I came here to study. I live with my aunt, you know," she said cheerfully, as if noticing his problem with asking her a question. "My parents died back when I was a kid, I don't really remember them."

Still talking, she was looking around curiously. When they were about to enter the train, she met steely gaze of a blond teenager standing next to a stylish, blonde female. Licking her lips slightly, she offered him a polite smile, but his eyes had already moved to Harry, who was waiting for her next to the train.

Victoria shook her head in amusement and joined Potter, grabbing the handle of her truck, but he stopped her, not moving his eyes from Malfoy.

"Who was that?" she asked, when they sat down in an empty compartment.

Harry groaned quietly before answering.

"Draco Malfoy. Douchebag. Don't pay attention to him, most likely he will be a pain in the arse, like every year."

She frowned, but didn't answer. _No one mentioned before that she will have to deal with childish prejudices._

Victoria stared at the countryside outside the window. It was raining, again. Taking advantage of the opportunity that the girl wasn't paying attention to him, Harry looked at her. He decided that her eyes aren't so similar to Dumbledore's, after all. They were a bit brighter and cheerful. Her long, dark hair fell gently on her shoulders. She reminded him of someone, but he had no clue who it might be. She wasn't as pretty as Ginny or Hermione, but still, she was very good looking.

The door opened and a small girl came in, nervously clenching something in her fist. Vic looked at her and so did Harry. Without a word, the kid shoved a note into Harry's hands and ran out of the compartment, slamming the door behind her.

Victoria chuckled, looking at Harry curiously. He frowned slightly, reading the message.

"I have to go for now, I got invited for, well, a meeting," Potter scowled, getting up.

"Sure thing." she answered, nodding. "I will take a walk maybe, but our trunks will be left here, so it should be fine."

"Right," he mumbled, moving to the door reluctantly.

"Go, the sooner you get there, the sooner it will be over," she said teasingly. He nodded sadly and went out.

Fynn rested her head against the seat, closing her eyes. She couldn't decide if it was a good time to find Draco. Maybe it was a mistake to join Potter, but he seemed nice and, after all, no one can expect her to sit there all alone.

After some time – it felt like it was a year to her, but maybe it was only five minutes – she stood up and stretched slightly. With one last look through the window, she left the compartment. Closing the door, she looked around. Making decision, she started walking slowly to the left, where the corridor had seemed a little less crowded.

It was colder than she expected, she thought to herself, rubbing her arms. Compartments were really warm in comparison to the corridor. Some windows were open, but somehow the floor was dry.

_I love magic_, she smirked to herself.

Mumbling words of apology, she passed a group of giggling girls, watching something in excitement. Judging by the bright pink vial, handsome boys should be on guard.

Trembling slightly, she stopped next to a window. It was getting darker, but she had no clue how much longer it will take to get to Hogwarts. She was still in her Muggle clothes, dark jeans and a simple, white t-shirt. Actually, most of the time she wore robes, but this time she had to wear these weird clothes.

"Well, well, look who's here?" she heard a quiet voice behind her. Not turning around, she closed her eyes, holding back a smile of satisfaction. After all, she didn't have to look for him.

"Hello," she mumbled, turning to him, which was rather problematic, as he was standing really close. His intention was to make her feel uncomfortable, she was aware of that, so she didn't try to move away. Instead, she pulled her head up, looking straight into his grey eyes.

"Potter's new friend?" he asked, smirking. She smiled slightly, tilting her head.

His original plan was to disparage her, but instead, his eyes were moving lazily over her face. He loved the smell of chocolate that surrounded her.

"I've met him, Hermione and Ron on the platform," she whispered, moving her eyes to the left. Someone was coming and Draco jumped away. Some girl casted a strange glance at them and ran away quickly. Victoria lowered her head and smirked, thinking how weird they must have looked.

"Another Mudblood?" he growled, not coming closer this time. That scent was annoyingly pleasant.

"Why?" she asked slowly. Unconsciously, she was playing with strand of her hair.

"Why do I ask or why do I care?" he smiled coldly, crossing his arms.

"Both, I guess," shrugging, Victoria felt again how cold she was. Stopping her teeth from chattering, she clenched her jaws.

"I don't care. Curiosity is the answer for both of those questions. I have never seen you here before." he spotted.

"I am new," she explained shortly. "I think I should go back to my compartment, I am freezing."

He nodded reluctantly, looking at her as if he was considering something.

"Maybe… Maybe you would like to join me and my friends? We are way better company than Weasel, Potter and the Mudblood."

Feeling like everything inside her was yelling to reject his offer, she clenched her jaw even tighter.

"Your friends will not mind?" she asked sweetly, not exactly sure how she stopped herself from washing that smirk from his pale face with one spell. He raised an eyebrow in amusement.

"Do I look like a person who cares?" he asked, showing perfectly white teeth in a smile.

"However, my trunk is still in the same compartment as Potter's." she mumbled. She knew that it was a goddamn amazing opportunity, not actually sure why she was jibbing.

"Victoria?" a female voice on her right made her turn very rapidly. "You're not with Harry?"

With the corner of her eye she noticed as Malfoy repeated her name silently.

"He left somewhere," she answered quickly, unwittingly digging her nails into her hands. It was now or never, otherwise she would change her mind. And such an opportunity, she really couldn't lose. "And I think I would rather stay with…" she looked at him quickly, realizing that he didn't mention his name and it would be rather weird to show that she knows his name really well. Like she had heard it millions of times in the last couple of weeks. Seriously, millions of times.

"Draco," he smirked, looking at Hermione mockingly. Fynn lowered her head slightly, biting her lower lip as she felt his arm around her waist. He pulled her a bit closer and she followed obediently, promising herself that when it will all be over, she would kill him.

"Oh," Granger mumbled in surprise. Her eyes were moving from Victoria's waist to her face. "Oh, sure. Bye."

When she left, Victoria felt a huge need to run after her, but she ignored it. Or at least, she was doing her best to ignore it.

"Shall we?" he asked with a pleased smile, trying to hug her even closer, but she slipped from his grasp.

"Sure," she said shortly.

No one said it will be easy, idiot. So clench your teeth and go on!

He clenched his teeth when she moved away, but didn't say a single word. He wasn't used to that kind of behaviour, probably. Parkinson and all those Slytherin girls running after him like dogs.

As they reached Slytherin's compartment, Draco opened the door and pushed her slightly to go in first. The look in Pansy's eyes told her that she should have stayed in her old compartment with Potter. Without a word, Fynn dropped into the free seat by the window. Draco sat down next to Parkinson, who pulled closer to him immediately.

"This is Victoria." Draco said, smirking to at his friends. She nodded to them. As far as she could tell, Zabini was missing, so probably, he was at the same meeting as Harry. Nott, a slim, dark haired boy looked at her without interest. "By the way, which house will you join?"

With huge effort, she stopped herself from giggling. Instead, she bit her lip, which, as she hoped, looked as if she was confused.

"None yet," she mumbled. "That… Well, Director, said that I will be assigned the same time as the other new students."

"Oh, I hope you won't go to Hufflepuff or Gryffindor!" Pansy said sweetly, grabbing Draco's hand. Victoria grinned, not able to hold back her amusement anymore.

"I don't care where I will go." she snorted, crossing her arms. She snuggled deeper into the plush seat and stared into the darkness behind the window, cutting off the discussion.

_It's going to be a long year._

xxx

The door to their compartment opened and Blaise Zabini went came in. Mumbling something about an idiotic meeting, he tried to lock the door, but he couldn't. With her eyes wide open, Victoria observed as a dark shoe drifted near her head.

_Unfuckingbelievable._

Unfortunately, Draco was looking in the same direction. She took a deep breath, trying to think of something, but not a single genius idea came to her mind. With relief, she noticed, that the young Malfoy had probably come to the conclusion that it was some kind of hallucination. He laid his head on Pansy's lap and started to boast.

_Moron._

Victoria stood up impatiently. Everyone looked at her.

"I… I should dress up," she mumbled, running out of the compartment. She didn't even bother to close the door behind her. Pushing several people as she ran, she finally reached compartment, in which she was had been sitting with Harry before. Ron and Hermione looked at her in surprise.

"Hi," she panted, feeling singing in her side, "Have you seen Harry?"

Hermione frowned and Ron gave her a hostile look. Damn, she must have told him already.

"No, he didn't come back from that meeting you told me about." Hermione answered slowly, watching Victoria nervously taking her trunk from the shelf. "Why…"

But before she managed to finish the sentence, Fynn rushed out of the room, holding her robes.

_Goddamn idiot._

She changed her clothes in the toilet and, trying to regain her breath, she walked slowly to Slytherin's compartment. Draco's grey eyes watched her as she closed the door behind her. His head was still resting on Pansy's lap and the girl's hand was slowly stroking his hair. She sent Vic a triumphant look, but Fynn was too absorbed in her own thoughts to pay attention.

Nervously straightening her skirt, she sat down, looking through the window. She was really grateful that no one was trying to draw her into conversation. Draco was staring at her, but didn't say a single word.

She was thinking quickly about any kind of solution to this situation. She was more than sure that Draco had noticed Potter's shoe, but had probably decided that he was hallucinating. She was hoping he did, anyway.

"I think we will be leaving the train soon." Blaise's deep voice tore through her thoughts. Looking up, she noticed as that he was taking his trunk from the shelf. And at that moment, she heard a quiet gasp. Trying not to wince, she looked around quickly. Pansy had left to the toilet to change, while the boys were still looking for their robes. Malfoy had his back turned to her.

Victoria licked her teeth, clenching her hands on the seat. When it was only her and Malfoy left alone in the compartment, she felt her last opportunity to help Potter.

"Draco?" she said quietly. He looked at her questioningly up from his trunk. Biting her lower lip, she glanced at him hesitantly. "Can I… Well, can we go together? I have a feeling that your friends don't like me very much and… Hermione was angry at me about something… I don't know anyone else."

"Sure. But wait for me outside, I have to change." he smirked, finally closing his trunk.

She nodded absently, leaving the compartment.

"Fuck…" she mumbled, leaning against the wall. She heard some voices through the opened window. Smiling to herself, she rushed outside.

"Excuse me!" she yelled at young female. "Excuse me", she repeated, coming closer. "Harry Potter's friends asked me to tell you that Harry is missing!"

The female frowned, but before she was able to ask her another question, Draco jumped down from the steps of the train. Victoria rushed to him, begging in her mind for the woman not to follow them.

"What did she want from you?" Malfoy asked, raising an eyebrow.

"She asked me why I was there, all alone." she shrugged, catching up with him. He looked very pleased with himself. Well then, hopefully Harry was still in one piece.

Draco looked at the girl walking next to him. From this perspective, he noticed that she had very long eyelashes. Probably the longest he had seen in his whole life. In general, he found her attractive. And that chocolate scent… He took a deep breath in a hope to smell it again.

"Where are you from?" he asked, trying to push away the thoughts he wasn't supposed to have.

"England, why?" she looked at him.

"Just curious." he shrugged. "So why you didn't go to school with us before?"

"You want to know if I am a pureblood? Well, the answer is I am half-blood. Father was Muggle." she said without any emotion. "Yes", she added, seeing his glance. "Was. They are dead, both of them."

"I am sorry." he said, in a tone that suggested that he didn't really care.

"No need. I don't really remember them. I live with my aunt."

It was quite dark outside. Afraid to stumble – and maybe a little bit of trying to show him that she was vulnerable (always works in books from Amanda Belby!), she grabbed him by the arm.

"Carefully," he mumbled when she almost tripped on a protruding root.

"Is it…" she started, biting her lower lip, "How I will get assigned to a House?"

"The Sorting Hat takes care of it." he answered shortly. It came to his mind that it was actually idiotic to talk with her before he can be sure where she lands. He would not step out of the shower for a week if she landed in Gryffindor! Yuck. On the other hand… He gave her another quick look. Merlin, those lips!

Victoria nodded absently, looking at her feet.

xxx

"Slytherin!" The Sorting Hat yelled and the boy ran to the green Slytherin table.

"Fynn, Victoria!" the old lady with a narrow mouth called her. Ignoring all those looks, she sat down on the stool and fell into complete darkness when the Hat covered her eyes.

"What do we have here… Bravery… Arrogance… Intelligence… Cunning. You would fit in Gryffindor, young lady, AND in Slytherin. What to do…"

Trying not to move her lips, Victoria clenched her eyes and focused on one thought: _Slytherin, I beg you._

"Are you sure?" the Hat's voice whispered.

_Yes. Yes. YES._

"SLYTHERIN!"

Holding back a sigh of relief, she rushed to the Slytherin's table to sit opposite to Malfoy, next to Zabini, who patted her approvingly on the back. Draco smirked to at her, making Pansy move closer to him in an impulse of jealousy. Victoria sighed quietly, looking sadly at her empty plate.

_It's going to be a long, long year._


	3. Chapter 2 - Desperate, But Not Hopeless

Victoria looked around the room lazily. Merlin, she hated green. Falling on an empty chair near the fireplace, she looked at Draco sitting on a fluffy armchair and Pansy cuddling up against him. Seriously. Like a puppy.

Taking out her wand, she summoned one of her books, determined not to look at Parkinson's tongue sliding on Malfoy's neck. It was disgusting… With a quiet sigh, she opened the thick book. With satisfaction, she noticed her place was really warm. Good thing, she didn't really like cold. Lazily rotating the wand in her fingers, she read another few pages of the book. Zabini, sitting in the chair next to her, was staring into the fire, completely deaf to sounds made by Parkinson. In general, they weren't talking a lot. The common room was pretty quiet, only some younger students were chatting in the corner of the room.

Victoria tried the same tactics as Zabini seemed to use, but when she heard a particularly loud click, she stood up, drawing the startled looks of other Slytherins.

"I… I will go for a walk." She mumbled, not directing her words to anyone particular, trying not to look in Pansy and Draco's direction, pretty sure she would puke seeing them right then. Before anyone actually managed to understand what she murmured, she was long gone.

After a few minutes she wished that she took something warmer with her, it was really cold in those corridors. Not exactly sure where she was heading, she stopped, looking around. Sculptures were standing silently in their places, most of people from the portraits were sleeping, some of them whispered something to their companions.

Victoria rubbed her arms, slowly moving ahead, curiously scanning the images on the walls.

"It is not allowed for students to be out so late. Lumos." She heard a familiar, quiet voice, coming from behind her back. She turned around quickly, unconsciously clenching her fingers on the wand. Light from the other person's wand illuminated her face. "Oh. You."

"Yeah," She mumbled, relaxing a bit. "hello."

For a few second they were looking at each other, the glow from his wand blinding her a little bit. Then, he stopped the spell, allowing the weak glow of the moon to be their only source of light.

"To my office," He commanded, dragging the syllables, hiding his wand to his bosom.

"Would definitely love to, but I have no clue where it is," she smiled maliciously, shivering when a light breeze blew. Without a word, Snape turned around and started walking quickly. She rushed behind him, grinning at the sudden thought that his long cape made him look like a bat.

Their steps reflected dully from the stone walls, but she was grateful for that, at least he couldn't hear her teeth chattering. Her skirt from school uniform was definitely too thin. And too short. Not to mention her bare legs between the skirt and knee-socks. The Poltergeist flew over them, giggling maniacally, but didn't try to attack. She followed the creature with curious gaze for a moment, almost hitting her companion's back when he stopped abruptly.

With one sweeping move, Snape opened heavy, wooden door, letting her in. Looking around curiously, she stepped in, noting with relief, that his office was much warmer than school corridors. Without an invitation, she sat down in a soft chair next to a desk. The room was rather empty, just a desk, two comfortable, fluffy chairs and a bookshelf. She liked it, mostly because of a fire in the fireplace, deliciously warming her frozen limbs.

"You can't be out so late." He said slowly, also sitting down. She raised an eyebrow, crossing her legs.

"Oh, sorry, it's such a pleasure to look at Parkinson drooling on Malfoy's knees." She rolled her eyes, smiling. Snape didn't smile, looking at her with an unreadable expression on his face.

"You are not here for your own entertainment." He pointed, clasping his hands on his lap.

"I know," She admitted, "But I don't have to look at it, either."

He sighed quietly, piercing her with the gaze of his black eyes. Not a single muscle moved on his face as he was trying to use Legilimency. She almost smiled. Old fool, did he seriously think that she had spent all the years locked almost alone in a house, staring at the celling? If she was sure of anything in the world, it was her magical skills. She was aware that he was way better than she will ever be, but for fuck sake, she knew how to protect her mind, no need to check that!

"You are not good enough to do this, you are too weak." He said coldly as if nothing happened seconds before, still looking at her carefully with his dark eyes. Victoria took a sharp breath before answering.

"You're not the one making decisions here." She hissed, standing up. "Is that everything, Professor Snape?"

"Slytherin loses 10 points for your late walks." He said, also standing up. "You are free to go. Don't let me catch you again."

Victoria snorted softly and left Snape's office, not forgetting to slam the door.

_Old moron._

Taking a deep breath of cold air to regain self-control, she started walking slowly to the dungeons. Now, when she was alone, her steps were way quieter. Anger in her body warmed her, so she wasn't feeling the cold air.

_Of course she can manage!_

xxx

Next morning, when she entered the Great Hall, she saw Draco sitting alone. Sighing quietly, she went to join him.

"Hello," she murmured, sitting down. He looked at her and nodded, lazily munching his toast. She smiled innocently, "How did you manage to get rid of Parkinson?"

Malfoy smirked, swallowing his food. Then, he moved his fingers to brush her hair. Victoria closed her eyes, ignoring the silly thought that it was quite a nice feeling.

"Why," He started slowly, slightly moving closer to her, "Jealous?"

Opening her eyes, she sent him an amused look. Shaking her head slightly, she moved even closer to him, so now their thighs rubbed against each other.

"Try disgusted." She purred, looking straight into his eyes. Unconsciously, he licked his lips, bringing Victoria's gaze to them.

He smiled mischievously, gently brushing her bare thigh with his fingertips. She bit her lip from inside, holding back the quiet murmur growing in her throat.

"No need to feel disgusted. And I can make it up to you." He said, looking at her with a smile. Sitting so close, he inhaled the intoxicating scent of chocolate. For a moment, he wondered if her skin not only smelled like chocolate, but also tasted like it.

She raised an eyebrow, smiling mockingly.

"How is that so?" She could feel the rough material of his trousers rubbing her bare skin. Her cheeks burned and she could feel the piercing gaze from the teacher's table. Swallowing slowly, she stood up. "I gotta go."

"You didn't eat." He pointed mildly, cocking an eyebrow with a smile.

"Not hungry." She mumbled, trying to leave, but his hand grabbed hers, squeezing it.

"Wait for me, we can go together," His voice was amazingly soft when he said that, making her shiver. He stood up, still holding her hand. Victoria fought an irrational urge to tear it out of his grip. "I'll show you the way to Transfiguration's class."

She nodded, avoiding his eyes. It occurred to her, that she was rather unexperienced. Sitting at home with a house elf did not provide many occasions to meet boys. Well, it did not provide any. It was completely annoying how her body reacted to his touch. Even more annoying was the fact that it amused him.

"So," he started, as they headed up the stairs, finally letting go of her hand, "How do you like Hogwarts?"

She shrugged slightly, before answering, her heart still beating a bit too fast. They were passing big group of giggly girls and Draco's hand touched her waist, gently pushing her to walk in front of him.

"I like it here," She said when they were alone again, "The dungeons are a bit too chilly, but other than that, it's fine."

"You know," He smiled mischievously, "You can always come to me if you are cold."

Victoria snorted, smiling at him. She couldn't help thinking that it was rather weird to have the possibility of talking with someone other than a house elf.

"I don't even know you and you make me such offers." She shook her head in a mock disbelief, looking at him with the corner of her eye.

He smirked, but didn't answer. They were walking quietly for a moment, then Victoria started, "Can you show me where the closest female toilet is?"

"What makes you think I know where the female toilets are?" he asked in amusement, nodding shortly to some Slytherin boy.

She shook her head in disbelief, smiling slightly.

xxx

Harry didn't even look at her as he and Ron entered the Potions classroom. She pursed, again looking at Professor Slughorn. When he started talking about Felix Felicis, she noticed the dangerous revival in Draco's usually stolid way of being. She moved restlessly, not exactly sure what to do.

Right after the theoretical part was done, he started cutting ingredients vigorously. _Oh shit. _He was planning on getting that Felix.

"Draco?" She mumbled quietly, "Can you help me?"

"You're on your own, sweetheart. I've got some fucking nice elixir to win." He answered, not even looking at her.

Fuck. Fuck. _Fuck._

Without thinking, she started cutting ingredients, trying to figure out a way to stop him from winning that goddamn Felix Felicis. If he would win, she would have to fight against pure magic, not only a 16 year old boy. From what she was told by Snape, now when he's got a goal, he wouldn't pay attention to her. He was gallant when there was a time for that, however, when he had more important things to do, he didn't care about ladies.

Unless…

She looked at her own hands hesitantly. Pale skin that was almost shining unnaturally in the dark dungeon. It was sick… _disgusting._

She looked at Draco as he was smiling to himself, carefully following the instructions given in the book.

"Draco?" She whispered, moving a bit closer to him.

"Really, not now." He said impatiently, stirring the broth.

Oh boy. I really have no other choice, she thought.

Taking a deep breath, she looked around the classroom, making sure no one paid attention to her. Then, she pressed a knife to the inside of her hand, refraining a hiss as the blade cut through the delicate skin. Swallowing, she waited a few seconds for some blood to trickle and then looked at Draco with eyes full of tears. To her own surprise, it wasn't that hard to make herself cry.

She licked her lips and then hissed quietly, discarding the knife on the desk. At first he only glanced at her quickly, occupied with his own work, but noticing blood on her hand, turned to her fully.

"What have you done to yourself, idiot?" He asked angrily, conjuring up a handkerchief and handing it to her. She sobbed quietly, taking it from him.

"It slipped," She said plaintively, applying the handkerchief to the injury, "I didn't mean that."

"Clumsy," He mumbled, glancing every now and then at his bubbling elixir, "Go to Slughorn or heal it yourself. I am busy."

_Fucking insensitive bastard._

Feeling totally helpless, she allowed the tears to stream down from her eyes, moving closer to the young Malfoy.

"But Draco," She whispered with a voice overflowing with tears, "I don't want to. I am not really into healing spells, I don't know how to heal it on my own. I will do anything, just do not make me go to him. Everyone will look at me as if I am half brained."

"They might have been right," He groaned nervously, putting down his knife, "Show me that."

"Thanks." She said in a low voice, lowering her head to hide her smirk under the curtain of her hair.

"Time is almost over!" Slughorn shouted, briefly clapping his hands. She noticed Draco mumbling curses under his breath, healing her hand.

"Tonight you'll go make rounds with me." He hissed, looking at her with his cold, grey eyes.

"Do what?" She blinked, opening her eyes wider.

"Rounds. I am a prefect. I have to patrol corridors after the curfew sometimes. And you said you'll do anything." He explained, smirking.

_It's fine,_ he thought, _I can make it without stupid luck elixirs._

"Am I allowed to be there with you? I mean, I am not a prefect and all…" Slughorn started walking around the class, judging students' works. Draco smiled at her mischievously, totally forgetting about his potion. And the women are considered to be variable…

"Coward." He mumbled.

They had to stop their conversation, as Professor Slughorn came to check the effects of their work. Draco groaned quietly, hearing that Harry won the Felix Felicis. Victoria smiled slightly, bowing her head.

"So?" He asked quietly, coming closer to her. She opened her mouth hesitantly.

"Draco?" They heard a bit squeaky voice behind them, "You coming?"

Pansy Parkinson was standing near them with her arms crossed on her chest, looking at Victoria with hostility.

"We will join you soon," He answered, not turning around to look at Pansy, "Now go."

_And so she did._

Victoria snorted with amusement, shaking her head. Draco grinned at her.

"So?" He insisted, looking at her intently.

"Yeah. Ok. But if I get cold, I am coming back to my warm bed!" She said, passing him on her way to the door. Draco smirked.

_Maybe this very last year of his presence in Hogwarts wouldn't be that bad._


	4. Chapter 3 - Know Your Enemy

Draco stood up, looking at Victoria expectantly with small smirk on his lips. She sighed quietly, also standing up from her warm place in an armchair next to the fireplace.

"If I start getting cold, I'm coming back." She announced, crossing her arms against her chest with wistful glance at the armchair.

Draco only smirked, nodding. He ignored the quiet gasp made by Pansy, moving towards the door. He stopped in front of them, allowing Fynn to go first, which she did, sending him an unhappy glare with her blue eyes. He entered the narrow passage right behind her, gently putting his hands on her hips in something of a caring gesture, leading her out. Victoria turned her head around, narrowing her eyes, and with one sharp move, pushing his hands away.

"Hands off." She hissed as they reached the cold school corridor.

"Merlin, Victoria, relax," He mumbled without a smile, "I won't fuck you right here by only touching you through your clothes."

She shivered slightly hearing his words, angry for her reaction. Well, yes, maybe that was a bit childish, however, she was really bad at, well, _interpersonal contacts_. And, to her own anger, she couldn't help her cheeks blushing as the words "fuck you" left his mouth. Right now, she blessed those dark corridors they were walking through. She crossed her arms again, her eyes looking everywhere but in Draco's direction.

"Stop acting like this, you look like you're afraid of me," He said, his voice sounded tremendous and clear in the high corridor. Victoria snorted.

_Oh boy, how wrong you are_, she thought to herself, _if anyone here should be afraid, that's definitely not me._

He grinned when she didn't answer. He was walking close enough to her body to make her feel rather… _restless. _

Nervous, she didn't even notice that they were heading to the second floor instead of first, as he had mentioned before. When his hands pushed her slightly in the direction of some old sculpture, she looked at him, frowning. He made a quick move with his wand.

"What the…?" She started, when the knight jumped away, showing a dark, narrow corridor.

"Just go." He muttered through clenched teeth, pushing her inside.

"Draco, what…" She started again, obediently walking ahead, turning her head around to look at him. Her hand unconsciously tightened on her wand. When the sculpture went back to its original position, she murmured 'lumos', her eyes fixed on the young Malfoy. Unconsciously, she noticed he was too close, so she tried to go back, but the corridor was too tight to make more than one step backwards. Abruptly, he placed one of his hands on her mouth, second embracing her waist.

"Shhh" He hushed her, moving closer, so that now she was pinned between Draco and the cold, stone wall.

She observed him with her eyes wide open, considering hexing him, but then she heard some quiet voices and laughs through the wall. With one swift move, she extinguished her wand, placing her hands on his chest. She couldn't be sure if those people outside can see the light of her spell, so she did it just in case. Now it was completely dark, and for first few seconds she couldn't see anything, her eyes slowly accustoming to the darkness. With his hand still covering her mouth, she turned her head to look at the stony wall, on the other side of which was the stone knight. She could hear her heart beating quickly, but she wasn't exactly sure if it was caused by the idea they might be found here in this weird situation or because of that hard, muscled chest pressed tightly against her breasts. Impatiently, she pushed away his hand from her mouth.

"Do you think we can get out now?" She asked in a shaky whisper.

_Damn that idiotic body_, she thought to herself, feeling her legs tremble slightly as he embraced her waist fully with both of his hands.

"Get out?" He repeated slowly in a low voice, turning his gaze to her face. She could barely see him, but now she could feel his warm breathe a little above her face.

"Yeah," She murmured, licking her lips unconsciously as his hands tightened on her waist, "Out, back to the corridor."

"We're not going back right now." Draco mumbled, lowering his head a bit. He found out in surprise, that not only her skin smelled like chocolate, her raven hair also wore that amazing scent. She was shorter than him, so he had her hair really close right now.

With a smirk, he noticed that she trembled slightly at his touch.

"What do you mean?" She mumbled. His hands moved a bit lower, causing her to gasp in surprise. "What are you doing?" She squeaked, struggling to make him let go. He chuckled quietly pulling her closer, but obediently moved his hands back to her waist.

"Don't be so prude," He whispered with amusement. "And by 'we're not going back right now' I meant exactly what I've said. We're going for a little walk."

She opened her mouth in surprise, shutting it after a few seconds to swallow. What on Earth was she supposed to do?

"Why?" She asked quickly, as he started guiding her through dark passage, his hand still on her waist.

"Because I want to show you the village, maybe grab a drink or two." He answered casually, leaning slightly when the corridor became lower. And narrower, to Victoria's misery.

She snorted, shaking her head slightly.

_Village my ass._

She was thinking quickly. Honestly, she hadn't thought that he would start trying to fulfill his task _so fast_. It was naïve, but she thought she would have some more time to adjust herself in here. And yet, there she was with Malfoy in the secret passage, going to Hogsmeade.

She wasn't exactly sure what he was planning, but she was positive that it wasn't just some sort of walk to an abandoned place only to impress her.

"Alright." she mumbled, trying to move away from Malfoy, so he grabbed her hand. _Oh boy._

"Tell me something about you." he _demanded_ as he guided her through narrow passage. His slender fingers felt a bit chilly in comparison with her feverishly warm skin, but she found out to her own surprise, that she didn't mind it at all. What on Merlin's pants, she knows the boy for a few days and she _didn't mind_? She had been alone for too long, definitely.

"What do you want to know?" she asked, waking up from her thoughts when his fingers clenched shortly on her hand.

"I don't know," he shrugged nonchalantly "Just… Something. Favorite food, nicest childhood memory. I don't know you at all."

_Oh, you can't even imagine,_ she thought to herself, holding back a smirk.

Victoria cleared her throat with hesitation. For the first time she had a feeling that maybe – just maybe! – Snape was right and she didn't fit for the job. Draco's other arm embraced her as she almost tripped over a small root.

"I…" she started, swallowing slowly with her eyes locked on their feet. "I always wanted to own a dog." she finished silently, not exactly understanding why she was telling him that.

Girl looked up at Draco to see him frowning in incomprehension. She almost smiled when she parted her lips to explain, "Dogs aren't common pets in wizard's world, but I happened to live in muggle Madrid for a while and in _their_ world dogs are pretty frequent home pupils." she stopped for a moment, bright blue eyes looking straight ahead, reminiscent. Draco remained silent, as if he understood that she hadn't finished yet. "My aunt… She is an old witch. It might sound cruel, but I get a feeling that she… That I will be all alone soon." Victoria swallowed, opening her lips again, not sure how to finish the sentence. "And dogs are… Told to be man's best friends."

She casted a quick glance at Draco. His grey eyes were locked straight ahead as if he had lost all interest in what she was telling him. She hoped really badly that he believed her. Especially taking into account the fact, that mainly she told him the truth. Not counting the ridiculous part about some aunt that had never existed.

"You seem to know quite a lot about the muggle world," he said pointedly, still not looking at her. Victoria simply shrugged, but didn't get a chance to respond, because wooden flap appeared in front of them. Draco hushed her with a gesture of his hand when she opened her mouth to say something.

Slowly and carefully, he opened it, looking around. Then he motioned for her to follow, which she did, a bit hesitantly. Candles were off, so it was pretty dark down there, but their eyes got used to the darkness in the passage. Without any major problems they got out of the basement and sneaked through an empty, closed shop, one thought in Victoria's head: _I am so screwed._

Draco mumbled a few charms removing locking and protecting spells and they got out of the shop into the dark, cold night. Victoria shivered involuntarily, when cold wind flapped her thin robe.

"You could've told me we will be going out." she barked angrily moving closer to him in search of warmth.

She was totally surprised with her ability to pretend. She pretended she didn't know the spells to unlock the door. She pretended silly little girl who believed in Draco's purely romantic intentions. Damn, she really was good.

"You'll warm up pretty soon." he promised, starting to walk somewhere. Happy or not, Fynn followed him, her blue eyes watching everything carefully.

His behavior changed slightly in comparison to the way he acted in the secret passage. Now he wasn't interested in her, so she was more than sure that he was up to something. Almost jogging behind him, Victoria's brain was working quickly. As they reached Three Broomsticks Inn, Draco opened the door for her. Fynn went inside to the sound of ringing bells. He was right behind her and motioned for her to find a place to sit.

"I'll get us something to drink." he said, leaving her at the table. The room was pretty crowded, many witches and wizards babbling joyfully while drinking some alcoholic beverages. Victoria's eyes were locked on Draco's back as he leaned on the counter in front of a middle-aged, but still quite attractive witch. Fynn clenched her jaw, somewhat in surprise, a little bit in admiration.

_That bastard was using wandless magic._

Surely she underestimated him! Flirting with a giggling female, he was using magic. Advanced magic. Really fucking goddamn advanced magic, to be exact.

Victoria's eyes tightened as she tried to recognize the spell. It was pretty much the first time she had to do it _in real,_ it wasn't simply a lesson with Spangle, Snape or her grandfather. She gasped quietly as she felt power of Malfoy's magic.

She vaguely saw as Draco started walking back to her with two cups of Butter Beer. She could have promised she had seen gleam of triumph in his eyes, although it could be only light.


End file.
